Monthly Archives: November 2013

It did wonders for my Mom who might have died not so many years ago. But thanks to CT scans and heparin drips and interventional radiology and modern medicine she was able to go home and go back to her life. Mildly bruised and a little worse for the wear…but in one piece and alive and thankful for it!

It has also done wonders for my friend Diana (check her out at http://www.previvingandthriving.com) who is BRCA2+ and has, since August, had a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy and reconstruction thanks to the miracle of medicine and science and research. And some super awesome surgeons.

Today I’m thankful for a special group of people I work with. Not my ICU peeps…my doctors.

They are, in general, a fantastic group of well informed, ready to educate, proactive, involved and enthusiastic physicians. Even better…they’re sometimes REALLY fun to work with. We have impromptu song sessions, cultural references mid-rounds, happy hours and even better…some mutual respect.

More than one of them are unexpectedly caring. They’ve texted to ask about my friend Diana during her surgery. They’ve texted and followed up to check on my Mom. They’ll randomly ask me how my foot is doing two years after I broke it.

Want education? They’ll give it to you. Gladly. Because they like it when we’re smart.

they have their wives make me Christmas wreaths. (Super excited about this!)

Sure…they can be bears. Pitbulls. Total jackasses. Often. Just like normal people. Just like some of my “regular” friends. Just like me.

And those are just the attendings!!

The residents…man I kinda love some of those people!! They’re fun, funny, excited to be there and more than a few have become great friends. They rotate around and I don’t get to see the favorites as much as I’d like to. Besides the ICU staff, they’re some of the only people who really understand what the job is like and how bad or good it can be. They’ll have your back at unexpected times. Like the time the crazy man threatened to hold me hostage (John Q movie…seriously scary) and the tiny tiny tiny ED resident just about tried to take him down herself. (Still have the eternal shoutout to Jana for her mad crazy team leading that day) The almost adorably awkward (almost) ortho resident who consoles you like a Sheldon robot when you’re worried about someones spine. The ones who hear the words “central line” from three buildings away and magically show up on the unit, put in three central lines, four chest tubes and run a code with a smile.

So it’s not quite my Aunt Arleen’s birthday but today…I’m thankful for my aunts! Both of them.

Mom and my aunts together are basically a force of nature and boy am I lucky that they’re a force of nature on my behalf! I shudder to think of their power combined working against me.

I could always tell them anything, they were always supportive and ALWAYS willing to call me on my crap and make sure I acted right. They were the perfect combination of mom and friend and exactly what a girl needs in an Aunt. I am forever grateful to have them in my life.

Looking forward to see them on Thanksgiving too! Always a good dinner!

Today is November 19th which just so happens to be the birthday of the most important man in my life- my Daddy. So today, I am thankful for him.

I’m a Daddy’s girl. Always have been, always will be. It’s different than my relationship with Mom, who, for the record, was also a Daddy’s girl.

It’s one of those things that only a Daddy’s girl will understand.

It’s not that I’m dependent on him, it’s not that I can’t do things without him. It’s that he’s always been there to rely on.

Half the pictures on his phone? The time I picture texted him the inside of my toilet tank to figure out what kind of flusher kit I needed to make a DIY repair to my toilet. Also, pictures of my heating unit to help me figure out how to light my pilot light.

The other half? His granddaughters. And me with his granddaughters. They’re Grandaddy’s girls. It’s a family thing.

Again with the catching up. Today is the 18th and I’m pretty sure I have three days worth of thanks to remember!!

16th- I thankful for my brother. At 8 years my senior, he was too old to play when I was little but as I’ve grown up he has shaped what I like to do, the music I listen to and shown me how to be a fierce defender of those I love. Through our childhood I did whatever he did and this extended as I grew up. Lake days, concerts. His influence on my musical preferences has been huge- a good portion of my iTunes playlist can be attributed to him. Pat Green, Jimmy Buffet, Guns n Roses, REK, Cross Canadian Ragweed. All people he said was cool, so I listened to them. And from that my song collection grew. I was always really in to music, but he pushed my interest in a direction outside of what I’d find on the radio.

Plus, he’s ALWAYS had my back. Fights with Mom and Dad, people in bars, other kids growing up. I remember being in high school and having a big cut on my face that was stitched up and very obvious and I was SO insecure about it. A guy in a restaurant looked a little too long at me and then he stopped. Because it was taken care of. I was ALWAYS taken care of. Between him and Dad I’d say my standard for men has been set impossibly high.

Plus…bless him, he’s in a job where he gets football tickets. Good tickets. With parking.

17th- alarm clocks. Water. Motrin. Being in an alcove where I could shut the door on certain staff members who insist on singing all day and nurse my semi-hangover from previously mentioned football game with awesome seats and So. Much. Beer. Mannitol.

18th- Those wonderful and elusive no alarm clock days. I usually end up being awake by 7:30 anyway but it’s my bladder that wakes me up and not some mean old alarm clock. Also- pictures!!!!! Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE to have my picture taken. Today was Layla and my annual “family” picture day!!! Who needs husbands and kids when you have the prettiest dog ever!!

Mom had a bit of a large health scare on Sunday which has led to almost a week in the ICU at Harris and a lot of moments of “ohmygoodnessthiswas almostreallyreallyreallybad” on my part.

So these last four days…I’ve been thankful for a lot.

My Mom’s health and reserves to get through her big fat saddle PE.

Dad. Just Dad.

The nurses taking care of Mom in the Neuro ICU at Harris. They’re not my JPS peeps…but they’ve been awesome.

My awesome friends including Diana who heard the words “saddle PE” and came to sit with me in the hospital for even just a few minutes and everyone who has heard a little whisper of something and checked on me and came to check on me and Mom.

My work family for asking after my mom and dealing with my work guilt on Thursday.

My Mom for telling me it was okay to go out for lunch and the day with my BFF from forever.

My ICU docs for mini Mom consults.

My brother for procuring tickets for the Tech-Baylor game this weekend. I need a break!!!

Medical technology. Oh the technology!

The totally legit cafeteria at Harris.

The way the ICU works at JPS. I ALWAYS know which doc is running the show and that is harder to come by than one would think.